Bluma Brenner

Dr. Bluma Brenner is a Principal Investigator at the McGill Wainberg Centre, Lady Davis Institute and affiliated with McGill University Departments of Medicine and Microbiology and Immunology. She has worked in the field of AIDS since 1990 with 150 peer-reviewed papers. Her collaborative studies with the late Mark Wainberg involved identification and characterization of drug resistance pathways in distinct HIV-1 subtypes.

She gained international recognition in tracking HIV transmission dynamics at a population level using sequence datasets from the Quebec genotyping program. Her landmark Journal of Immunology 2007 publication has been cited 696 times. Her studies apply genetic and cell-culture based approaches to better understand HIV transmission processes and inform proactive prevention strategies. Her work contributed to the creation of SPOT community site for rapid HIV testing and counselling. Current studies on the design of mobile devices for screening HIV, HCV and related co-infections will be invaluable for use in remote and resource-limited settings.